Law enforcement has found the body of a Whitefish woman who had been reported missing since July 16.
Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said law enforcement found Alex Beltran’s vehicle and body at 9 a.m. on Aug. 1 in a pond on the west edge of Kalispell. Curry said it appears the vehicle was driven down a driveway, across a lawn, and into a pond.
Her body will be transported to the Montana State Crime Lab for an autopsy, Curry said, and the case remains under investigation.
Curry said the vehicle was found when a resident reported finding what he believed to be a vehicle in the pond on his property. Divers from the sheriff’s office confirmed there was a vehicle submerged in the pond, which was “very murky and had zero visibility.”
Once the vehicle was removed, searchers found Beltran’s body inside.
In a previous interview, Curry said detectives had determined that Beltran, 23, had spent most of July 16 in the Kalispell area drinking with friends. She left a residence on the west side of Kalispell late that night bound for her parents’ home in Happy Valley but never arrived. Her family reported her missing on July 19. Law enforcement combed numerous routes that Beltran could have taken home but found no evidence of her or her car.